Counselors Help DBU Students After 3 Classmates Die In Crash
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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Finals will continue today on the Dallas Baptist University campus after an emotional night. On Mother's Day, students gathered on the school campus to remember three classmates killed in a crash early Saturday morning.
Students are facing a difficult week, but grief counselors are at the campus and available to talk to anyone who needs guidance or encouragement.
Justin Schubert, Will Smith and Djordje "D.J." Sarenac were killed when their truck ran off the road on Mountain Creek Parkway – not far from the university. Police say the their truck flipped and hit a wooden utility pole, after the driver lost control. The vehicle landed upside down.
Students say the crash could have happened to anyone.
Hundreds gathered in the Pilgrim Chapel at DBU for a memorial service Sunday night. DBU is a close-knit university, with just 5,300 students -- so the loss is felt by almost everyone.
"Mourning is not something that's bad. It's not something that we should turn away," student Brett Price said. "Also, I think it's something that we need to accept, and it's also something that helps us."
For other students the accident and the deaths are surreal. Student Johnathan Lara remembered, "I was with them five minutes before the crash and I was asked by DJ to go with them."
Administrators have reached out to the families of the young men offering "love, support and encouragement."
Formal funeral services for the three students are pending.
Dallas police continue to investigate the crash, but have yet to determine how the driver lost control.
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